The Coalition Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		1.5

The Coalition Blu-ray Movie Review

Party people in the house tonight, sexist players gonna have a bad time...

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater February 21, 2013

Judging by the title, you might assume The Coalition is a political thriller, or a multi-national war movie, or a drama about various activist organizations banding together to take on a huge corporate adversary. You would be very, very wrong. The soap opera-ish film instead concerns a group of women who—in true "hell hath no fury" fashion—join forces against the misogynistic guys who've scorned them. Thematically, it sits somewhere between The Hills and Jersey Shore—all nightclubs and spray-tans, cheating and gossiping, wine-guzzling socialites and rich, vapid men behaving like over-hormonal junior high boys. The movie is "inspired by actual events," which seems like an unnecessary tag to put on a story that, at its most dramatic, is about petty relationship squabbling.

But I suppose the "inspired by" description carries more weight when you realize that The Coalition was co-written by Baltimore Ravens linebacker—and new Superbowl champ—Terrell Suggs, who based the movie on some of his own observations of high-rolling athletes treating women with disrespect. The irony here is that Suggs himself was recently ordered by a court to hand over his collection of guns—including an Ak-47—after his then-girlfriend, now-wife accused him of punching her and dragging her alongside his car while he was driving. (And she still married him?) Maybe The Coalition is Suggs' attempt at atonement, but regardless, the film just isn't any good. It's obvious at best, obnoxious at worst, and its characters—even some of the ones we're supposed to relate to—are wholly unlikeable.

The Coalition...

The star around which everyone in the film orbits is Prime Alexander (former Seattle Seahawk Eddie Goines), an extravagantly wealthy professional basketball player, presumably—though it's never stated—for The Suns, as the movie is set and shot in Phoenix. Prime works hard and plays harder, and to celebrate being nominated for the NBA all-star team, he throws a huge party in the VIP lounge of a local club, which quickly fills with friends and sycophants and hanger-ons. Among them are Prime's boys, the "1080" crew, comprised of rich businessman Dallas (Sant'e Andrews), actor Lonzo (J.R. Ramirez), and pint-sized Kalif (James Phillips), the sort of swag-obsessed player that comedian Aziz Ansari seems to be parodying on Parks & Rec. Alas, The Coalition is no satire of the socialite scene, although it would almost certainly be better if it were. The film is devoid of humor, which is weird considering the characters are such laughable stereotypes.

Prime has invited everyone to the party but his ex, Autumn (Ingrid Clay), a high-end boutique owner who shows up in a tizzy and promptly freaks out when she's not allowed into the VIP section. Her presence is unwanted because Prime is macking on a new girl, Skylar (Denyce Lawton), a sweet, family-conscious woman who'd rather be at home taking care of her grandma than out at the club. Skylar allows herself to be wined and dined—Prime sends a car to take her to a spa, buys her expensive clothes, and generally woos her—but she has no idea what she's getting into with the basketballer and his lackeys, who are only looking to hook up. Dallas sleeps with the blonde Carnegie (Nicole Garza) before the bash, with no intent on seeing her again—his motto is "A.B.C., Always Be Closing"—and Kalif later brags about having a threesome with two girls in Prime's pool during the after-party. Lonzo, the most balanced of the crew, seems to have a genuine thing for Katalina (Adrienne Bailon)—a one-time culinary student who "studied under the top chefs in Paris for, like, a year"—but his bros-before-hoes mentality sours this nascent relationship before it really starts. No surprise, Prime isn't the charmer he appears to be either, and he has a big secret he keeps from his revolving tie-rack of girls in skanky night-out dresses.

Fed up by how the boys get away with treating them like trash, Autumn, Skylar, Katalina, and Carnegie form their titular coalition and orchestrate some coordinated pay-back in the form of a PR war. They leak one of Dallas' "game tapes"—yes, it's exactly what you think it is—and have him arrested for "spreading sexually transmitted diseases." They leak rumors that Kalif is gay—somehow, they get a TMZ-style journalist to report this as news—and cancel Prime's credit cards. There's a big confrontation at a charity gala. Yawn. And that's about it for plot. The film is far longer than it needs to be, padded out with manufactured drama. The guys are d-bags. The girls don't think to look for love outside the meat-market nightclub setting. We have little sympathy for any of them.

Directed by first-timer Monica Mingo, The Coalition is also the debut of Terrell Suggs' Team Sizzle Worldwide production company. The movie is obviously under severe budgetary constraints—evidenced in the no-name casting and the cheapness of the lighting and cinematography—and it looks more like a made-for-TV, reality television-inspired melodrama than a feature film. That's understandable. Less forgivable, though, is the script, which doesn't satisfy or surprise. Here's hoping Team Sizzle finds some material that actually sizzles for their next production.

The Coalition Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I couldn't find any detailed information on how The Coalition was shot, but it was definitely digital and, from the looks of it, possibly on a DSLR, like the Canon 5D Mark II. It certainly has all the hallmarks of a lower-end digital production—highlights are often blown out, black levels vary from grayish to crushingly dark, and source noise is often either quite high or unnaturally smoothed out, with occasionally noticeable instances of compression banding. The level of clarity is similarly variable; there are scenes that are nearly tack-sharp, with plenty of fine high definition detail, and others that are softer, fuzzier, more muddled. The color grading goes for realism and is mostly consistent, although the changing contrast levels can have an effect. I doubt The Coalition could look much better given it's low-budget origins; Magnolia's Blu-ray release at least seems true to source.

The Coalition Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Coalition features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that gets the job done. Dialogue is the focus here—it's always clean and understandable out of the front channels—but the rear speakers do get occasional action flooding the soundfield with low-level ambience, like the murmur of partygoers. There's some original music by George J. Fontenette, but most often you'll hear a mix of cheesy down-tempo R'n'B and bad club music. One song, in particular, just repeats the lyrics "lick, salt, shot, lime" over and over and over again, perhaps encouraging some sort of pavlovian response to head back to the bar. Lord knows you'll need a drink after this film. The disc includes optional, easy-to-read English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

The Coalition Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary: Terrell Suggs, Monica Mingo and Rich Volin sit down to share their thoughts on the process of making the film.
• Baltimore Screening Q&A and Audience Interviews (HD, 20:31): Footage from the film's only half-full Baltimore premiere, with Terrell Suggs and director Monica Mingo fielding questions from the audience.
• Interview with Executive Producer and Co-Writer Terrell Suggs (HD, 9:40): Suggs talks about the origins of the film, getting nervous before screenings, etc.
• Interview with Director and Co-Writer Monica Mingo (HD, 37:52): An exceptionally long interview with the film's director, who discusses the process of making her debut film at age 43 after a career in corporate crisis management.
• Interview with Producer and Editor Rich Volin (HD, 4:53): Volin gives a few words about how he met Mingo in film school and got involved with Team Sizzle.
• Interview with Associate Producer Tarik Dickens (HD, 5:00): Dickens describes "getting the job done...that's what associate producers do."
• Blooper Reel (HD, 2:58)
• Alternate Ending (HD, 2:15)
• Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment (HD, 6:40)

The Coalition Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's not a rom-com, because it's neither romantic nor funny. The Coalition feels more like one of those fake "reality" shows, a la The Hills, complete with manufactured drama and idiotic characters. If you're into that sort of thing, hey, give the film a go, but don't expect much. It's hard to sympathize with either the douche-y guys or the revenge-seeking women here—none of them are exactly paragons of their genders. I'd recommend skipping the film entirely, but if you absolutely have to see it, Magnolia's Blu-ray release is at least true to low-budget source, and comes with lots of bonus material.